"Auroville, a New Age planetary village in India... During the decade following the laying of the foundation stone in 1968, more than 500 people settled in Auroville... in numbers of communities on patches of land owned by Sri Aurobindo Society... "

Auroville

world

-

-

-

-

1991

*LINK* Wilson, Andrew (ed). "The World Religions and their Scriptures " in World Scripture. International Religious Foundation, 1991. (viewed 9 July 1999)

"new sects and movements in Hinduism both in India and the West, for example, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, the Theosophical Society, Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj, Ananda Marga, Transcendental Meditation... "

Crim, Keith (ed.). The Perennial Dictionary of World Religions. San Francisco: Harper Collins (1989). Reprint; originally pub. as Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions, 1981; pg. 547.

"As Europeans began to settle in Australia, many traditional communities were disrupted. Those who were unable to retreat into areas where no Europeans had settled were denied the shared experience of traditional life that enlivened the Law. The Law withered. Australians became strays in a world where physical survival alone had meaning. Where Europeans were unable to penetrate significantly, Australians held to their Law. The rhythmic clack of boomerangs, the drone of the didgeridoo, songs, dances, rituals, and the dreaming that brought men into vital contact with the Dreamtime ancestors continued... "

"According to figures recently released by the Australian government's Bureau of Statistics... of Australia's nearly 18 million people... statistics... from the nation's latest census in 1996 [which] includes the question: 'What is your religion?'... 0.04% indicated they followed an Australian Aboriginal traditional religion. While the number indicating a traditional religion has increased substantially since 1991, most Australian indigenous people identify with a Christian religious group. "

"The first Australians arrived from Asia. Forty thousand years ago there was less area between Australia and the rest of the world than today. But even then, there were some channels up to 80 kilometres wide, so they must have used boats or rafts, some of the first in the world. The people spread over the land and multiplied. By the time the Europeans arrived there were perhaps 300,000 of them. "

Australian Aborigines

Australia

350,000

100.00%

-

-

1787

Meisel, Jacqueline Drobis. Australia: The Land Down Under (series: Exploring Cultures of the World). New York: Benchmark Books/Marshall Cavendish (1997); pg. 17.

"Before 1788, when settlers from Europe arrived, there were about 350,000 Aborigines. They had all of the land of Australia to themselves. "

Australian Aborigines

Australia

3,000,000

-

-

-

1788

Darian-Smith, Kate & David Lowe. The Australian Outback and Its People. New York: Thomson Learning (1995); pg. 14.

"In 1788, when the British invaded Australia, it is estimated that there were between 750,000 and three million Aborigines living in about 650 different groups, or tribes. Each group had its own dialect, political and social system, laws, and territory. Aboriginal people depended on the environment for their daily survival, and the land was essential to their cultural and religious life. "

"Aborigines are increasing at a rate faster than the general population--but they are still fewer than one-half of the 300,000 who, in the estimate of Professor A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, inhabited Australia in 1788. "

"By 1900 the number of Aborigines had dropped from about 300,000 to about 66,000. Many had died from bullets and many more from diseases, such as tuberculosis, which they caught from the whites. The rest had lost their land and their sacred places, the homes of their souls. It was not their world any longer and nothing made any sense. The Aborigines became despondent and the death rate rose dramatically. Soon, it seemed, there would be no more Aborigines. "

"Today there are at least 150,000 people of Aboriginal descent. Among them are successful people, artists, writers and entertainers, sportsmen and sportswomen, and three elected politicians. But these are the exceptions. Most of the other people are just very poor. "

Australian Aborigines

Australia

160,000

1.07%

-

-

1992

???

Pg. 383: "Only slightly more than 15 million people live in [Australia] "; pg. 395: "Australia's 160,000 aborigines maintain their tribal traditions mainly in northern and central Australia. (Queensland is populated with more aborigines than any other state). About two-thirds of the aborigines are living a relatively modern lifestyle in the big cities. They are the poorest group in Australia, plagued by health problems, alcoholism, and culture shock. "

"The 100,000 Aboriginals are today only 1.5 percent of the population of Australia. Most of them live outside the cities and other densely populated areas. The Aboriginals are divided into a number of nations and clans. Among them there are a staggering 500 different languages divided into 31 language groups. "

Australian Aborigines

Australia

200,000

1.11%

-

-

1997

Meisel, Jacqueline Drobis. Australia: The Land Down Under (series: Exploring Cultures of the World). New York: Benchmark Books/Marshall Cavendish (1997); pg. 30, 60.

Pg. 63: "...Australia's more than 18 million citizens... "; Pg. 70-71: "Of the somewhat more than 200,000 aborigines now surviving in Australia, the majority live on reserves or native land, while perhaps 100,000 live in cities and urban slums. "

"Aboriginals of Australia... Population: About 300,000, which is 1.5% of the total population living in all parts of Australia, with a large concentration in Queensland. Ethnic Diversity: There are about 300 communities with separate identities. The two major indigenous groups are the Aboriginal people and the Torres Strait Islanders. Languages: Officially English. Among the Aboriginals 500 traditional languages belonging to 31 language groups are still used. "

"Australian Aborigines: Location: Australia; Tasmania; Population: Approximately 265,000; Religion: Traditional Aboriginal religion; Christianity "; "Since the colonization of Australia, many Aboriginal people have converted to Christianity either by choice or by the influence of education in mission schools. "

"So far, 65 religious groups and associations have completed a questionnaire and are listed below... Australian School of Yoga Pty Ltd. (The): The Australian School of Yoga teaches 'yoga' which is a religion, a science and a way of life that originated in India in approximately 3000 BC. The school was established in 1983. The school's patron is Mr B.K.S. Jyengar, the Master who introduced the ancient Indian discipline to the West... His method is thorough and precise and emphasises creation within all postures. The practising of postures is believed to lead to better health. "

"The Australian Transmission Meditation Network... The Network now has seven main contact centres in Australia and approximately twenty Transmission Meditation groups, each with between five and ten members. "

"So far, 65 religious groups and associations have completed a questionnaire and are listed below... The Australian Transmission Meditation Network is a network of groups and individuals practising and facilitating Transmission Meditation, a non-sectarian, non-denominational meditation activity... More recently, the release of the teachings has continued through... Benjamin Creme - who introduced Transmission Meditation to the world in 1974. Under Mr Creme's inspiration and guidance, Transmission Meditation has spread throughout the world. Since its establishment in Australia in 1991 the Australian Transmission Meditation Network has been drawing people from various backgrounds united by their wish to help the world... The Network has fifteen national co-ordination centres worldwide and several hundred groups of between five and thirty members. Membership of the organisation is not formal, and there is no core group devoted to full time service within the movement. "

"New York, NY [H.Q.]; The Autocephalous Slavonic Orthodox Catholic Church (In Exile) dates its existence to the coming of Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius to Moravia in the ninth century... The church's strength is in the Bronx [New York City] where it ministers to Slavic Americans of various national backgrounds, many first generation immigrants. Membership: Not reported. "

"Autocephalous Syro-Chaldean Church of North America... Rockville, CT [H.Q.]... Membership: In 1988 the church reported 1000 members and 13 clergy in four parish churches and one mission. It sponsors a church in the Philippines. "

"Aymara: Location: Bolivia, Peru, Chile; Population: About 2 million (Bolivia); 500,000 (Peru); 20,000 (Chile); Religion: Roman Catholicism with indigenous beliefs; Seventh Day Adventist "; "The religious practices of most Amerindian groups are a unique fusion between their traditional, indigenous practices and the religion imposed by colonizes. The Aymara are no exception. The Aymara, however, have had two cultures imposed on them: first by the Incas, and later by the Spanish... Catholicism was introduced during the colonial period and has been adopted by the Aymara... The content of their many religious festivals, however, bears evidence of their traditional beliefs. The Aymara regularly make offerings to Mother Earth... Most recently, Seventh Day Adventists have made great inroads in Aymara communities... "

"Only one small handful of Babis were prepared, indeed eager, to assume the political role which Browne had envisioned for them. These were the Azalis, who had by this time abandoned their erstwhile leader, Mirza Yahya, to his lonely exile on Cyprus, and had suddenly metamorphosed into political ideologists, journalists... "

Azali Babis

Iran

-

-

-

-

1987

Bishop, Peter & Michael Darton (editors). The Encyclopedia of World Faiths: An Illustrated Survey of the World's Living Faiths. New York: Facts on File Publications (1987); pg. 173.

"In 1866, a definite rift opened between the two brothers, and the Babi remnant divided between a Baha'I majority and a small Azali minority... A small and semi-secret community of Azali Babis still survives in Iran. "

"Azande: Location: from upper Nile basin in the southern Sudan to the borders of semitropical rain forests in Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo); Population: 1 million; Religion: beliefs revolve around ideas associated with mangu (witchcraft) "; Pg. 33: "During the period of British colonial rule in this part of Africa, policy dictated that formal education was to be provided by practitioners of various Christian faiths. Thus, becoming Christian was often a consequence of becoming literate. At the present time some Azande profess faith in Islamic principles and others profess Christianity, but beliefs about causation, death, and misfortune still revolve around mangu. "

"The Azande live in the very heart of Africa, where the borders of the Congo, Sudan and Central African Republics join. They number about 750,000, unevenly distributed over a territory of 75,000 square miles. "

"According to the most recent estimates, Azerbaijan's population is approximately 7,450,000. Azeris or Azerbaijani, who make up about 78% of the population of the republic, are a Turkic-speaking people. "

Chaliand, Gerard (ed). A People Without a Country: The Kurds and Kurdistan. New York: Olive Branch Press (1993 - revised first American edition); pg. 211.

"Iran... is a multinational empire... Out of an overall population of 36 million, there are roughly 13 million Turkish-speaking Azerbaijanis, 6 million Kurds, 2 million Arabs and a certain number of Baluchis and Turkomen. "

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